Tuesday, February 18, 2014

5 Questions with Allison Glock-Cooper and T. Cooper

I had the wonderful chance to read and review Changers Book One: Drew, the first book in the new YA series Changers by Allison Glock-Cooper and T. Cooper. They also agreed to this interview, which I hope gives you some insight into the new book!

If you have any questions about the questions (ha-ha) that I asked (i.e. what is an Abider?) Please comment below and I will clarify.

(Please visit the their website, which is linked below in their answer to question #5!)

HF: What is the significance of the Abiders' relationship with the
Changers? Do they represent someone or something in the real world?

AG & TC:To us, the Abiders
represent any group that forgoes knowledge in favor of superstition, or
that acts from a place of fear. Basically, they are that subset of the
population that believe things are better when they stay the same--which
is rough life philosophy given nothing ever does stay the same. Their
relationship with the Changers is one of distrust and the need to
control this thing they can't understand. In the real world, when any
minority begins to gain power or visibility, the opposition to that
minority grows louder and more desperate. You can find this pattern in
most social change movements. Simply put, things get very dramatic
before they settle down. And we are meeting the Abiders at the start of their hysteria over the Changers.

HF: Did your high school experiences inspire the book? If not, what did?

AG & TC: Very
much so. Also the high school experiences of our children, our friends,
their friends. As writers, we are always listening. One small example
is that I was, in fact, a cheerleader for a brief, inglorious stint. And
the chapters about that came quite directly from the dissonance I felt
being an independent, bookish girl putting on that pleated skirt and
jumping up and down.

HF: I found Ethan's approach to being a girl amusing, especially to clothing (like jeggings), friendship, and romance. Did you two collaborate on different viewpoints of each gender?

AG & TC: The
entire book (and series) is a collaboration, in that my husband would
write a brief outline, then I would fill in the meat of the chapter,
then he would add and subtract, and so on. Some chapters he wrote
exclusively. Others I did. People always tell us they know who penned
what, but they are often incorrect, which is a great compliment of
sorts, in that it means we were both able to inhabit all the characters,
and to play with gender and voice, which is kind of the whole
meta-point of the series. That said, I did make him try on jeggings. And he nearly died.

HF: Will one of the supporting character's (such as Tracy or Chase) stories be elaborated upon in the next book?

AG & TC: Tracy and Chase, as well as Audrey and other key characters, will remain
with us for the next three books. Whether or not they stay those people
remains to be seen. If you are asking if we will explore their origin
stories, that is a possibility too. Readers seem very keen to find out
what happens to Drew. But Audrey kind of wins my heart. She is the kind
of generous, honorable friend everyone wants to have.

HF: Why did you write this series? Do you hope to influence how young people see the world from the eyes of others?

AG & TC: We
wrote the series to entertain, of course, but also to engage readers in
a discussion about what really defines a person. (Our empathy project--wearechangers.org--more explicitly addresses this, as does our Unselfies campaign, where we encourage folks to stop taking pictures of themselves and instead take a few of how they feel.)
We believe everyone contains multitudes. And that true love and
friendship weather the growth all humans go through as they become
adults. We also believe where you begin in life need not be where you
end up. It is such a hopeful notion to consider that who or what you
become is really up to you. Lastly, we wanted to write something that
was real and grounded, but also magical and fun. Because the best stuff
in life happens when magic and reality collide.